Friday night lights aren't what they used to be. Just ask the folks in Katy, who will vote Tuesday whether to approve a new football stadium that would be the most expensive high school venue ever built.

At $69 million, the 14,000-seat stadium would surpass by almost $10 million one built specifically for the Allen Eagles two years ago. Supporters say it's not a luxury item inspired by the gridiron success of the Katy High School Tigers, who last year won their fourth state championship since 2000. They say it's simply a matter of growth: One stadium cannot handle the scheduling requirements of seven high schools, especially with two or three more to come.

"We didn't do this to be the most expensive or one-up the guy next door," said John Eberlan, a bond project committee member spearheading the publicity effort. "We wanted a good conservative design that will serve the district for years down the road. This is about serving the entire district."

Opponents balk at the cost, regardless of school trustees' insistence that no taxes would need to be raised were the project to pass.

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By the numbers

$69.5 million Cost of proposed Katy stadium

$59 million Cost of Allen's stadium, the nation's most expensive high school football venue

$99 million Total of bond package

14,000 Capacity of proposed Katy stadium

18,000 Capacity of Allen's stadium

Texas' largest high school stadiums

Stadium/City/Capacity

Alamo/San Antonio/23,000

Pizza Hut/Frisco/21,193

Mesquite Memorial/Mesquite/20,000

Ratliff/Odessa/19,302

Farrington/Fort Worth/18,500

Allen/Allen/18,000

Buccaneer/Corpus Christi/18,000

San Angelo/San Angelo/17,500

Veterans Memorial/Pasadena/16,800

Stallworth/Baytown/16,500

"A $69 million price tag for a second stadium is excessive on the backs of the taxpayers," said Cyndi Lawrence, the head of a Katy tea party organization that opposes the bond project. "I think the people should vote it down and it should go back to the drawing board. We need another committee, an unbiased committee."

The stadium is part of three major capital projects that make up a Katy ISD bond project of just under $100 million. The proposal includes a new agriculture arena along with support facilities and an education center devoted to the so-called STEM subjects of math, science and engineering. But it's the stadium that carries the most cost and has drawn the most controversy - a familiar scenario in countless Texas communities, with accusations of misplaced priorities running up against demands to modernize and expand.

Construction frenzy

Since the arrival of the new century, high school districts across the state have been upping the ante in stadium construction. Scores of impressive facilities have been built, many with a seating capacity of more than 10,000 and price tags topping $20 million. In 2008, Conroe ISD opened Woodforest Bank Stadium at $49 million. A year later, one district in San Antonio unveiled a second stadium that ran $33 million.

Even small schools are getting in on the act, replacing or renovating stadiums from a different era. Class 3A Carthage, inspired by consecutive state championships from 2008-2010, upgraded its five-year-old stadium with a new $750,000 video scoreboard.

Allen ISD took the construction frenzy to new heights with a state-of-the-art stadium that many small colleges would envy. Built as a home for one team - the district says a second high school will never be needed - Eagles Stadium boasts 18,000 seats, a huge high-definition video scoreboard, fully covered concourses, Wi-fi, and pretty much any amenity a fan or coach would want.

The proposed Katy field won't be as big as Allen's, but if artist renderings are accurate it would not take a back seat to many stadiums.That's hardly surprising, given that it is designed by the same architectural firm, PBK, that did Allen and many other Texas stadiums. It would be adjacent to the current Rhodes Stadium, a serviceable but uninspired 34-year-old facility that seats 10,000.

Proposal defended

When Allen school trustees decided to replace their small, outdated stadium a few years ago, the $59 million cost made headlines around the country. Many of them were not kind. As Lawrence notes, these are venues for high school football - emphasis on "high school" - so why should Katy school trustees follow the lead of another district that set out to build a sports palace?

Eberlan responds that ego and vanity have nothing to do with it. The district has too many schools for one stadium, he insists, and the 100-plus member committee that studied the matter selected a design with the future in mind. The cost is what it is, he said. Unlike Allen, site preparation and paving will be expensive, about $9 million, he said. And construction would occur at a time when costs of labor and material, especially concrete, are significantly higher.

"Allen built that stadium at best possible time when all the construction companies were hungry for work," Eberlan said. "We know that because we were building schools at that time, and we were able to build two extra elementary schools with our construction funds because they came in under what had been projected. Now the companies are not as hungry, and everything that goes into it costs more than it did then."

As far as bells and whistles go, Eberlan is light on details, saying decisions are pending. He said the scoreboard will be nice - regardless of whether it matches the $1 million that Allen spent - and that the lighting will be brighter and more efficient. Bathrooms will be bigger and there will be more of them, especially for women. Concourses will be wide and able to provide shelter to most of the attendees during a thunderstorm. The project also includes an adjacent field house with weight rooms, an open assembly area and offices to accommodate the district's athletic department.

Cost too high for some

As the parent of a member of the Katy High School marching band, Eberlan said he is especially excited that the two adjacent facilities would be able to attract large marching band festivals that it cannot now.

"I would also remind voters that bond rates are at a 40-year-low," he said. "It's never going to be cheaper than to construct and satisfy the current and future needs of the district than it is right now."

Lawrence remains unimpressed. She insists the stadium could be done cheaper, if it is needed at all, and that the school district is walking a perilous path with constantly repeating bond projects.

"Just a few years ago, the housing market crashed," said Lawrence, whose daughter was in the Mayde Creek High School marching band and whose son plays junior high football. "Who's to say this market is stable? If something happens again, they will be forced to raise taxes. I think it's just bad planning, putting that much debt on future generations."

She predicts the outcome is too close to call. The high cost is hard for even football and band boosters like her to swallow, she said.

Eberlan predicts the bond proposal will pass. History suggests he's right, as voters across the state have approved about $5 billion in school bonds in the last five years, according to the education news site TexasISD.com

A fair portion of that has gone into stadiums. And with the impulse to go a bit fancier and more expensive all but irresistable, he made a confident prediction.